French Polynesian assembly passes budget

The French Polynesian assembly has passed the budget after an attempt before Christmas had failed.

The budget was passed with 29 votes to 27 just ten days before the expiry of a deadline which would have seen the financial administration be handed to the French high commission.

The budget was approved by the new post-election group in the assembly made up of the pro-autonomy Tahoeraa Huiraatira and the mainly pro-independence Union For Democracy.

But President Gaston Flosse's authority has been challenged by the opposition which says under French law that also applies in Tahiti his breaches of accounts office provisions make him ineligible to have top financial responsibility.